Tobacco barn loading apparatus



. 0d. 3, 1967 R BROOKS TOBACCO BARN LOADING APPARATUS 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed July 26, 1965 [Will TOR f? oberl H Brooks 1967 R. H. BROOKS TOBACCO BARN LOADING APPARATUS 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed July 26, 1965 Oct. 3, 1967 R. H. BROOKS TOBACCO BARN LOADING APPARATUS 5 Sheets-Sheet 3 Filed July 26, 1965 United States Patent 3,344,938 TOBACCO BARN LOADING APPARATUS Robert H. Brooks, College Park, Ga. (231 E. Cambridge Ave., Apt. 1, Atlanta, Ga.) Filed July 26, 1965, Ser. No. 474,852 4 Claims. (Cl. 214-16.4)

This invention relates to a method and apparatus for curing tobacco, and more particularly to a method and apparatus for storing a large volume of tobacco leaves in a tobacco barn which requires a minimum of labor and time to completely load the barn with tobacco.

In the past it has been the practice of tobacco growers to hire field hands to remove the mature leaves of tobacco from the tobacco stalks in the field, transport the tobacco to the vicinity of the tobacco curing barn, load the tobacco on sticks or poles by tying the stems of the leaves together around the stick and then load the tobacco barn by hand. Attaching the tobacco to the poles or sticks and loading the tobacco barn by hand requires the work and labor of several people for several hours. For instance, in a typical tobacco barn, it requires the labor of nine men Working approximately ten hours each to string the tobacco leaves on sticks or poles by attaching the stems of the leaves to the poles with string. Hanging the poles or sticks in the tobacco barn usually requires approximately four men working two hours each. Unloading the barn requires approximately six men working approximately one hour and removing the strings approximately one man working twenty hours. Obviously, if the man hours expended in loading and unloading, stringing and unstringing the tobacco can be reduced, tobacco growers can make a higher margin of profit from their product.

Accordingly, this invention provides a method and apparatus for expeditiously attaching tobacco leaves to a pole to be placed in a tobacco barn, which specifically involves a pole having a spring biased clamping means which can be selectively opened against the bias of the spring and selectively closed by the bias of the spring so that the stalks of the tobacco will be clamped into position along the length of the tobacco pole. Furthermore, the invention involves a method and apparatus for placing the poles in the tobacco barn at any selected height within the barn, and retrieving the tobacco from the barn.

Thus, it is an object of this invention to provide a method and apparatus for expeditiously attaching stems of tobacco to a pole to be inserted into a tobacco curing barn.

A further object of this invention is to provide a method and apparatus for rapidly placing tobacco inside a tobacco curing barn, and rapidly removing'the tobacco from a tobacco curing barn, which requires a minimum of labor and time.

Another object of this invention is to provide a method and apparatus for loading a tobacco barn in a manner that allows the barn to be loaded at the bottom first and subsequently at the top, and unloaded from the top first and subsequently from the bottom.

Other and further objects, features and advantages of the instant invention will be apparent from reading the following disclosure, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of the tobacco barn from the outside, showing the control system for operating the barn and showing the barn from the end at which it is loaded and unloaded;

FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view taken along lines 22 of FIG. 1 showing the general organization of the mechanical features within the barn;

3,344,938 patented Oct. 3, 1967 FIG. 3 is the partial cross-sectional view of the upper portion of the loading end of the barn;

FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view of the upper portion of the barn, similar to FIG. 3, but of the unloading end of the barn;

FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional view of the loading end of the barn, taken along lines 5-5 of FIG. 3;

FIG. 6 is a cross-sectional view of the unloading end of the barn, similar to FIG. 5, and taken along lines 66 of FIG. 4;

FIG. 7 is an elevational view of the pole and the positioning means within the barn;

FIG. 8 is a detail view of the end of the tobacco pole and its track;

FIG. 9 is a side view of the track and the solenoid actuated stop means for stopping the movement of the poles along the track;

FIG. 10 is a detail view of the end of the tobacco pole and its track, similar to FIG. 8, but also showing the solenoid actuated stop means, and taken along lines 10 10 of FIG. 9;

FIG. 11 is a cross-sectional view of the pole, taken along lines 1111'of FIG. 7;

FIG. 12 is a cross-sectional view of the pole, taken along lines 1212 of FIG. 7; and,

FIG. 13 is a detail view of the modified form of the invention.

Referring now more particularly to the drawing, FIG. 1 shows a barn 20 having side walls 21, end walls 22, and a roof 23. One end wall 22 has openings 25 and 26 disposed vertically of each other and having doors 28 and 29, respectively. The doors 28 and 29 can be opened to the position shown in FIG. 1, or closed to close the openings 25 and 26. A control station 30 is positioned at the end of the barn near the end 22 which has the openings 25 and 26 therein.

As is best shown in FIG. 2, the interior portion of the barn comprises generally a loading mechanism 32, storage racks 34, unloading mechanism 35, and retrieving racks 36. Tobacco is loaded by the loading mechanism 32 on the storage rack 34, where it is cured. After the curing process the tobacco is unloaded by the unloading mechanism 35 and removed to the retrieving racks '36, whereupon it is fed by gravity to the opening 26.

Referring now to FIG. 3, the loading mechanism 32 comprises sprockets 38 positioned at the upper portion of each side wall 21 of the barn on a shaft 39 mounted a in the upper portion of each side wall of the barn in a bearing 40 (FIG. 1). Similar sprockets 41 are positioned at the lower portion of the barn near the opening 25. The sprockets 41 are mounted on a shaft 42 which extends completely across the width of the barn so that the sprockets 41 on each side of the barn are driven in unison by the shaft 42.

A continuous lower link chain is positioned over the sprockets 38 and 41 at each side of the end of the loading end of the barn. The chain 44 has one of its pins 45 at predetermined intervals along its link extended so that a hook 46 is supported thereby.

As best shown in FIG. 7, the hook 46 has a base portion 48 connected to the extended pin 45 and a curved portion 49 extending inwardly from the base portion which termi mates in a conventional pointed hook. Because of its con- The storage racks 34 are mounted in horizontal disposition with one another, vertically of the barn 20. The racks 34 slope downwardly from the loading mechanism 32 toward the unloading mechanism 35. As best shown in FIG. 8 the storage racks 34 at the loading end of the barn comprise generally an L-shaped beam having a horizontal portion 51 and a vertical portion 52. The horizontal portion 51 provides a platform for the ends of the poles 50 while the vertical portion 52 provides a limiting means to limit the lateral position that the poles 50 can take on the storage racks 34.

The poles for mounting the tobacco inside the barn have bearing means 55 at their ends which are adapted to engage the horizontal portion 51 of the storage racks 34. The bearing means comprise a housing 56 which supports a plurality of roller bearings 57, the bearings 57 being positioned two abreast in tandem arrangement. Accordingly, the roller bearings 57 will bear on the horizontal portion 51 of the storage racks '34 so that the poles 50 are free to move along the storage racks 34, While the housing 56 will bear against the vertical portion 52 of the storage racks 34 in the event that the poles 50 are positioned too far to one side of the storage racks 34 and prevent the poles 50 from slipping off the storage racks.

The poles 50 are of a length so that their bearing means 55 at each end are positioned so that they will be received by the storage racks 34. The poles 50 comprise a base portion 60, generally square in cross-section, a platform portion 61 extending downwardly from the base portion 60 and substantially the entire length thereof. The platform portion 61 defines a plurality of apertures 62 along its length. The base portion 60 has a plurality of clamping means 64 positioned along its length for attaching the tobacco leaves to the pole 50. The clamping means 64 comprises a metal clamp 65 mounted on an axle 66 which is attached to the base portion 60 by the bearing means 68. The clamp 65 has an extension 70 at its mid point, and a spring 71 is wound around the axle 66 so as to bear against the base portion 60 and the extension 70 to force the clamp 65 to bear against the platform portion 61 of the pole 50. The clamp 65 has a lip portion 71 which is arranged to bear on the stems of tobacco and clamp them against the platform portion '61 of the pole 50.

The clamp 65 has a cut-out portion 72 at its mid point in alignment with the extension 70, and that portion of the clamp 56 that is cut away from the cut-out portion 72 is merely bent back away from the clamp 65 to form a receiving hook 74. A rod 75 is inserted between the clamp 65 and the platform portion 61 and is received within the receiving hook 74 of the clamp 65. The rod 75 extends the entire length of the platform portion 61 and the cam means 76 are attached at each of its ends. The cam means 76 comprises a cam portion 78 and a handle 79 attached thereto.

With this arrangement it can be seen that the clamp 65 is normally spring biased toward the platform portion 61 of the pole 50 and can be released by pressing against the extension 70 of the clamp. If it is desired to release all of the clamps 65 simultaneously, the cam means 76 at each end of the platform portion 61 is rotated by rotating the handle 79 in a clockwise direction as viewed in FIG. 12, so that the cam portion 78 raises the rod 75 away from the platform portion 61, which causes the clamp 65 and its lip portion 71 to be raised away from the platform portion 61 of the pole 50.

The pole 50 has extensions 80 at each end beyond the bearing means 55, and each extension 80 has a flange 81 thereon. The extensions 80 extend beyond the storage racks 34 into the vicinity of the hook 46, whereby the hook can engage the extensions between the flange 81 and the vicinity of the storage racks 34 to lift the poles 50 from the storage racks 34. The flange 81 prohibits the pole 50 from sliding out of the grasp of the hook 46.

The unloading mechanism 35 is substantially similar to the loading mechanism 32 in that sprockets 85 and 86 are mounted on the side walls of the barn at the upper and lower ends, respectively, and the axles 88 are supported from the sides 21 of the barn by the bearing means 89, while the axle 86 extends the entire width of the barn so that both of the lower sprockets 86 rotate in unison. Both the front lower axle 42 and the rear lower axle 89 are driven, selectively, by the control station 30. The rear axle 89 is connected to the control station by the gear box 90 and the drive shaft 91. The chain 94 of the unloading mechanism 35 is substantially the same as the chain 44 of the loading mechanism 32 in that a plurality of hooks 96 are positioned along its length and the hooks are adapted to engage the extensions 80 of the poles 50.

The storage racks 34 extend substantially the entire length of the tobacco barn 20 and are constructed to receive the poles 50 at the loading end that are elevated by the loading mechanism 32, and constructed to position the poles 50 in a zone whereby they can be retrieved by the unloading mechanism 35 at the unloading end. The flaps 100 at the loading end of each of the storage racks 34 are attached to the storage racks by way of the hinge 101. A support 102 extends out from the sides 21 of the barn at the top and near the bottom of the barn to support a flap support 104. The flap supports 104 are positioned on each side of the barn and extend vertically thereof so that the flap 100 of each storage rack 34 is in alignment therewith. The flap supports 104 have a plurality of projections 105 attached thereto which are positioned so that the flaps 100 will rest thereagainst. These projections 105 afford the flaps 100 with vertical support at their ends remote from the hinges 101. The flaps 100 are arranged so that they are substantially coextensive with the horizontal portion 51 of the storage racks 34. With this arrangement it can be seen that, when the roller link chains 44 elevate the hooks 46 which are carrying a pole 50 above a pair of flaps 100, the flaps will pivot about the hinge 101 to allow the poles 50 to pass the storage racks 34. When the chains 44 are reversed so that the hooks 46 travel in a downward direction, the flaps 100 will rest against the flap supports 104 and their projections 105 so that the bearing means 55 of the poles 50 will come to rest on the flaps 100 and be supported thereby, whereupon the hooks 46 will continue to travel in a downward direction and the poles 50 will rest on the flaps 100 and travel, by the force of gravity, down the flaps 100 to the storage 7 racks 34.

At the unloading end of the barn, the storage racks 34 have an extension 108 of the same configuration as the storage rack 34 pivotally attached thereto by the hinge 109. The extension 108 has an abutment 110 at its end remote from the hinge 109.

As is best shown in FIG. 9, the storage rack 34 has a stop mechanism attached thereto that is arranged to prevent the poles 50 from traveling down the storage racks 34 onto their extensions 108. The stop means 112 comprises a pivotal stop 114 pivotal about a pivot pin 115 extending through the racks 34. The pivotal stop has a hook portion 116 and an abutment portion 118 at its other end. The pivotal stop 114 has an extension 119 extending from its mid portion in a downward direction, and a spring 120 is connected thereto so as to bias the pivotal stop 114 with its hook portion 116 projecting above the level of the vertical portion 52 of the storage racks 34. The pivotal stop 114 carries an abutment portion 121 which is arranged to abut a peg 122 extending from the storage racks 34 so as to prohibit the pivoting of the pivotal stop 114 beyond its predetermined limits.

The pivotal stop 114 of the stop means 112 is actuated by an electrically energized solenoid 125. The solenoid has one end connected to the storage rack 34 while the other ends connected to the extension 119 of the pivotal stop 114. When the solenoid 125 is not actuated, the spring 120 maintains the pivotal stop 114 in the position shown with the solid lines of FIG. 9, the spring 120 pivoting the pivotal stop 114 around its axle 115 until the projection 121 abuts the peg 122. When the solenoid is energized, the extension 119 and the pivotal stop 114 is pivoted around the axle 115 in a clockwise direction, as shown by the broken lines of FIG. 9, whereupon the hook portion 116 is moved out of engagement with the pole extension 80 and the abutment 118 is moved up to abut the pole extension 80 of the next adjacent pole 50. This allows the pole closest to the extension 108 of the storage rack 34 to be released and traveled down to the abutment 10, whereupon the pole is in position to be retrieved by the unloading mechanism 35. In the meantime, the next adjacent pole 50 has been held in its original position by the abutment portion 118 of the pivotal stop 114.

When the solenoid is de-energized the spring 120 will cause the pivotal stop 114 to pivot in a counterclockwise direction as viewed in FIG. 9 until the abutment portion 118 is withdrawn from the pole extension 80 and the hook portion 116 is again projected up into the path of the pole extension, whereupon the poles 50 on the storage racks 34 will, by the force of gravity, travel down until the first pole comes in contact with the hook portion 116 of the pivotal stop 114.

With this ararngement it can be seen that the poles will be selectively positioned on the extensions 108 of the storage racks 34 so that if the operator of the barn desires to retrieve all the poles from a certain rack, the poles of the racks next above the certain rack will not be on their extensions 108 to impede the travel of the poles retrieved from a storage rack therebelow. Accordingly, when a pole is retrieved from a lower storage rack by the unloading mechanism 35 and elevated, the poles will merely come into contact with the unloaded extensions 108 and cause them to pivot about their hinges 109 so that the poles can travel unimpeded through the system until it travels around the upper periphery of the sprockets 85 and then travel in a downward direction as indicated by the arrow 126 in FIGS. 2 and 4.

In order that the operator has constant knowledge of the extent to which the barn is loaded, each pair of storage racks 34 has an indicating switch 130 next adjacent its flap 100. The indicating switch means 130 comprises a switch 131, and actuating button 132. An actuating lever 134 is positioned in a cut-out portion 135 of the storage rack 134, and pivoted on an axle 136. A spring 138 biases the actuating lever away from the button 132 so that the switch 131 remains in its open position. As a pole 150 rolls down over the lever 134 the lever is depressed against the bias of the spring 138 so that the button 132 of the indicating switch means 130 is depressed thereby closing the switch 131. When the switch is closed, lights 140 at the control station 30 are lighted so that the operator can determined which ones of the storage racks have poles thereon all the way back to the entrance portion of the storage racks. Also, when the poles are initially being placed on the storage racks, the poles will roll over the actuating lever 134 to momentarily depress the button 132 of the switch 131 so that the lights 140 at the control station 30 will be momentarily lighted to show that the poles have been properly positioned on a particular storage rack. Furthermore, in the eventthat there is a malfunction in the system, the illumination of the various lights 140 at the control station 30 will give an indication to the operator as to the location of the malfunction.

Operation In operating the apparatus of this invention, the operator opens the doors 28 and 29 of the openings 25 and 26, respectively, and places a hanging pole on the edge of the door 28 outwardly of the limiting chains 24. The pole is placed with its plaform portion fiat against the surface of the door 28 so that the clamps 68 are on the upper side thereof. The operator then opens the clamps consecutively by pressing on the extensions 70 against the bias of the spring 71 so that the lip portion 73 is raised from the surface of the platform portion, and inserts the stems of the tobacco leaves between the lift portion 73 and the platform portion 61 of the pole 50. When the tobacco stems are in their proper position, the operator merely releases the extension 70 of the clamping means 74, whereupon the tobacco is securely held in its proper position. The operator then proceeds in a similar manner down the length of the pole with various other ones of the clamping means 64 until the pole is fully loaded with tobacco leaves.

When the pole is fully loaded with tobacco leaves the operator slides the pole across the door 28 of the opening 25 until the extensions 6f the pole 50 are in position to be engaged by the hooks 46 of the chains 44 of the loading mechanism 32. The operator can place the pole 50 in the hooks on the chain as it is on the closest side of the sprockets 41 and the pole can be carried initially in a downward direction until the chain and its hooks travel around the sprocket, whereupon the pole and its tobacco will be carried in an upward direction as determined by the operator at the control station 30. However, in some instances it might be desirable to slide the pole into the barn beyond the chain closest to the operator so that the pole and its tobacco will have an initial motion in an upward direction. In this instance the operator merely slides the pole over beyond the sprockets 41 and their axle 42 so that the pole can initially be grasped by the hooks 46 when they are traveling in an upward direction.

After the poles have been placed on the hooks 46, the operator at the control station 30, causes the sprockets 41 to rotate to move the chain 44 and elevate the poles 50 in an upward direction. As the poles travel past the various storage racks 34, the flaps will pivot about their hinges 101 so as not to impede the travel of the poles through the barn. When a pole has traveled to a point Where it is just above the pair of storage racks 34 on which the operator desires to load, the operator merely reverses the direction of rotation of the sprockets 41, whereupon the chains 44 travel in the opposite direction to lower the poles onto the flaps 100 of the storage racks desired to be loaded.

When the poles 50 come to rest on the flaps 100, the bearing means 55 will rest on the flaps 100 and the force of gravity will cause the pole to roll down on the flaps 100 to the storage racks 34. As the poles travel past the indicating switch means 130, the lights associated with those particular indicating switch means will be momentarily lighted at the control station 30 so that the operator is assured that the poles have reached the right pair of storage racks 34.

The barn is fully loaded in this manner, or is loaded in any particular fashion or to any particular degree as desired by the operator by repetition of this procedure. When the barn is loaded as desired the operator merely initiates the tobacco curing process that is commonly known in the art.

After the curing process is complete the operator unloads the barn by depressing a switch at the control station 30 to energize selected ones of the solenoids 125 on the racks 34. Energizing the solenoid 125 causes the stop means 112 to be moved so that the pivotal stop 115 releases the pole next adjacent the unloading mechanism 35 so that it travels down into the extension 108 against the abutment 110 thereof. This positions the pole '50 in the vicinity of the hooks 96 of the chain 94 of the unloading mechanism 35 so that when the operator, at the control station 30, causes the drive shaft 91 and sprockets 86 to rotate, the chain 94 will move in the direction of the arrow 126 so that the hooks 96 will engage the extensions 80 of the poles 50 and lift the pole off its storage rack 34.

As the pole travels up in the unloading mechanism 35 and contacts the extensions 108 of the racks 34 above its initial position, the extensions 108 will pivot about their hinges 109 to allow the poles to continue their upward travel. As the poles get up to the upper portion of the barn, the chain changes direction as it travels around the sprocket 85, so that the poles will then travel in a downward direction toward the retrieving rack 36 at the bottom of the barn. As the poles 50 approach the retrieving rack their bearing means 55 will engage the retrieving racks, in a manner similar to their engagement with the flaps 100, and the hooks 96 will be disengaged from the extensions 80 of the poles 50 as the chain continues its downward movement. The poles 50 will thereupon, by the force of gravity, travel down the retrieving racks 36 toward the opening 26 where they can be retrieved by the operator.

In another form of my device as shown in FIG. 13, the storage racks 34a are disposed parallel to the ground so that a minimum of space is wasted in the barn at its upper portion. While this arrangement is space saving, the benefit of the force of gravity in the operation of the apparatus is lost so that it is necessary to include apparatus for causing the poles 50 to travel down the pairs of racks 34a so that they can be engaged by the unloading mechanism 35.

For this purpose a movable abutment member 156 is attached to a continuous movable belt 151. The continuous 'belt 151 is driven by the cylinders 152 so that the abutment 150 sweeps past the storage racks 34a in the vicinity of the pole extension 80. As the abutment 150 sweeps past the extensions 86, any pole 50 that happens to be in this vicinity will be contacted by the abutment 150 so that the poles 50 will be moved to the right as viewed in FIG. 13. Obviously, as the poles are loaded onto the storage racks 34 the abutment 150 will cause the most recently loaded pole to move down the rack and therefore push any other poles ahead of it along the rack, until the rack is completely full.

In unloading this form of the invention, an empty pole must be positioned in the vicinity of the movable abutment 150 so that the abutment 150 will cause all of the poles on the storage rack 34a to move to the right as viewed in FIG. 13 so that the last pole 50 on the rack will be moved into the vicinity of the unloading mechanism 35. While this form of the invention has the disadvantage of requiring the movable abutment 150, it should be noted that the stop means 112 in the previously disclosed form of the invention can be eliminated since the poles 50 will move only when the abutment means causes a new pole to move all the poles on the racks 34a. Also, while the indicating switch means 130' was positioned at the loading end of the racks in the previously disclosed form of the invention, this form of the invention dictates that the indicating switch means be placed at the unloading end of the racks since the racks would not be fully loaded and therefore depress the switch, until the movable abutment 150 pushes all of the poles 50 to the unloading end of the racks. With this arrangement the indicating switch means 130 would inform the operator of which of the various ones of the racks are fully loaded.

It will be obvious to those skilled in the art that many variations may be made in the embodiments chosen for the purpose of illustrating the present invention without departing from the scope thereof as defined by the appended claims.

What is claimed is:

1. In a barn of the type employed for curing leaves of tobacco mounted on poles therewithin, said barn having side walls and end walls, the combination therein of:

(A) a loading mechanism at a first end of said barn comprising:

(1) a lower axle extending through the lower portion of said barn from one side wall to the other side wall,

(2) lower sprockets coaxially mounted on said lower axle near said side walls,

(3) upper axles extending inwardly from the upper portion of each of said side walls and positioned vertically above said first axle,

(4) upper sprockets coaxially mounted on each of said upper axles and disposed vertically above said lower sprockets,

(5) a first continuous chain disposed around one of said upper sprockets and one of said lower sprockets,

(6) a second continuous chain disposed around the others of said upper and lower sprockets,

(7) a plurality of hook means pivotally attached to each of said continuous chains at spaced intervals therealong and adapted to engage the ends of poles extending between said continuous chains;

(B) an unloading mechanism at a second end of said barn comprising:

(1) a lower axle extending through the lower portion of said barn from one side wall to the other side wall,

(2) lower sprockets coaxially mounted on said lower axle near said side walls,

(3) upper axles extending inwardly from the upper portion of each of said side walls and positioned vertically above said first axle,

(4) upper sprockets coaxially mounted on each of said upper axles and disposed vertically above said lower sprockets,

(5) a first continuous chain disposed around one of said upper sprockets and one of said lower sprockets,

(6) a second continuous chain disposed around the others of said upper and lower sprockets,

(7) a plurality of hook means pivotally attached to each of said continuous chains at spaced intervals therealong and adapted to engage the ends of poles extending between said continuous chains;

(C) a plurality of pairs of storage racks disposed along the side walls of said barn, one storage rack of each pair of storage racks being on one side wall and the other storage rack of each pair of storage racks being on the other side wall,

(1) said pairs of storage racks being vertically spaced from each other; and

(D) a pair of retrieving racks disposed along the side walls of said barn, one retrieving rack of said pair being on one side wall and the other retrieving rack of said pair being on the other side wall,

(1) said pair of retrieving racks being positioned below said plurality of pairs of storage racks and sloping downwardly from said unloading mechanism toward said loading mechanism,

(E) means to reciprocally move the chains of the loading mechanism to thereby load said racks,

(F) means to unidirectionally move the chains of the unloading mechanism to thereby unload said racks.

2. The invention described in claim 1 and further comprising indicating means associated with each of said pairs of storage racks for indicating the presence or absence of poles on said storage racks.

3. Claim 1 and further comprising pivotal extension means at the ends of each pair of storage racks for positioning poles in juxtaposition with the chains of said unloading mechanism.

4. Claim 1 and further comprising flap means pivotally connected to each pair of said storage racks for retrieving poles from said loading mechanism.

(References on following page) 9 10 References Cited FOREIGN PATENTS UNITED STATES PATENTS 602,757 6/ 1948 Great Britain. iESZS'ZS 31335 23531553313333: 525L123 GERALD PORLENZA, Primary 3,068,987 12/ 196-2.

Franklin 214--16.4 5 R. B. JOHNSON, Assistant Examiner. 

1. IN A BARN OF THE TYPE EMPLOYED FOR CURING LEAVES OF TOBACCO MOUNTED ON POLES THEREWITH, SAID BARN HAVIND SIDE WALLS AND END WALLS, THE COMBINATION THEREIN OF: (A) A LOADING MECHANISM AT A FIRST END OF SAID BARN COMPRISING: (1) A LOWER AXLE EXTENDING THROUGH THE LOWER PORTION OF SAID BARN FROM ONE SIDE WALL TO THE OTHER SIDE WALL, (2) LOWER SPROCKETS COAXIALLY MOUNTED ON SAID LOWER AXLE NEAR SAID SIDE WALLS, (3) UPPER AXLES EXTENDING INWARDLY MOUNTED ON SAID PORTION OF EACH OF SAID SIDE WALLS AND POSITIONED VERTICALLY ABOVE SAID FIRST AXLE, (4) UPPER SPROCKETS COAXIALLY MOUNTED ON EACH OF SAID UPPER AXLES AND DISPOSED VERTICALLY ABOVE SAID LOWER SPROCKETS, (5) A FIRST CONTINUOUS CHAIN DISPOSED AROUND ONE OF SAID SPROCKETS AND ONE OF SAID LOWER SPROCKETS, (6) A SECOND CONTINUOUS CHAIN DISPOSED AROUND ONE THE OTHERS OF SAID UPPER AND LOWER SPROCKETS, (7) A PLURALITY OF HOOK MEANS PIVOTALLY ATTACHED TO EACH OF SAID CONTINUOUS CHAINS AT SPACED INTERVALS THEREALONG AND ADAPTED TO ENGAGE THE ENDS OF POLES EXTENDING BETWEEN SAID CONTINUOUS CHAINS; (B) AN UNLOADING MECHANISM AT A SECOND END OF SID BARN COMPRISING: (1) A LOWER AXLE EXTENDING THROUGH THE LOWER PORTION OF SAID BARN FROM ONE SIDE WALL TO THE OTHER SIDE WALL, 